2016

The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill) provided veterans with college tuition, low-interest home loans, and business loans. Implementation was delegated to local officials and institutions, which systematically excluded Black veterans: Black veterans were denied low-interest VA home loans through redlined neighborhoods; most HBCUs lacked capacity for all eligible Black veterans while white universities refused to enroll them; vocational training programs placed Black veterans in lower-wage occupations. Of the first 67,000 mortgages issued in New York and New Jersey under the GI Bill, fewer than 100 went to Black veterans. This wealth-building program, estimated to have generated trillions in wealth over generations, largely bypassed Black families.

The 1944 GI Bill provided veterans with college tuition, home loans, and business loans, but implementation was delegated to local officials who systematically excluded Black veterans. Of the first 67,000 mortgages issued in New York and New Jersey under the GI Bill, fewer than 100 went to Black veterans. This wealth-building program, estimated to have generated trillions in wealth over generations, largely bypassed Black families.

Philando Castile, 32, was shot seven times by St. Anthony, MN officer Jeronimo Yanez during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, MN. Castile had calmly informed Yanez he had a licensed firearm; Yanez shot him seconds later. His girlfriend Diamond Reynolds live-streamed the aftermath on Facebook, with Castile's four-year-old daughter in the back seat. Yanez was acquitted of all charges in June 2017. The city of Falcon Heights settled with Reynolds for $800,000. Castile's killing became a defining case in debates about policing and Black gun owners.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, signed by President Clinton, provided $9.7 billion for prison construction, added mandatory minimum sentences, and expanded the federal death penalty. Black community leaders had been divided on the bill, with some supporting it due to crime's impact on Black communities. By 2016, the prison population had grown 75% since the bill passed; critics including Michelle Alexander (The New Jim Crow, 2010) documented the bill's contribution to mass incarceration. In the 2016 and 2020 campaigns, candidates including Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden faced scrutiny over the bill's racial impact. Biden later expressed regret.

Alton Sterling, 37, was selling CDs outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, LA, when police were called. Officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II pinned Sterling to the ground; Salamoni shot him six times at close range. The entire encounter was captured on cellphone video. The DOJ under Obama declined federal civil rights charges in 2017. Salamoni was fired in 2018; Lake received a three-day suspension. Louisiana state prosecutors declined to file charges. Sterling's killing occurred one day before Philando Castile's death, triggering national protests.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously struck down North Carolina's 2013 omnibus voting law on July 29, 2016, finding it targeted African American voters 'with almost surgical precision.' The law had eliminated same-day registration, cut early voting, banned out-of-precinct voting, and required photo ID — after the legislature requested data on which methods Black voters used most. The court found lawmakers had requested this racial data and then restricted those specific methods. The ruling was a major voting rights victory in the wake of Shelby County.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem before NFL games in August 2016 to protest police brutality and racial inequality, following a suggestion from Green Beret Nate Boyer. After the 2016 season, Kaepernick opted out of his contract; no NFL team signed him despite his performance record. He filed a collusion grievance against NFL owners, which was settled confidentially in 2019. His protest ignited a national debate and led to President Trump calling protesting players 'sons of bitches' at a 2017 rally. Kaepernick became a cultural symbol of resistance.

Kira Johnson, 39, a multilingual college-educated woman, died on April 12, 2016, hours after delivering her second son by C-section at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Her husband, Charles Johnson IV, spent nine hours pleading for doctors to address obvious signs of internal bleeding. A nurse told him Kira was 'not a priority.' She was taken to surgery 10 hours after giving birth, when it was too late; she had more than five liters of blood in her abdomen. Charles Johnson subsequently founded 4Kira4Moms, lobbying for maternal health legislation. The case became a nationally known example of how dismissal of Black women's pain caused preventable deaths.

Kira Johnson, 39, died on April 12, 2016, hours after delivering her second son at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Her husband Charles Johnson spent nine hours pleading for doctors to address obvious signs of internal bleeding. A nurse told him Kira was 'not a priority.' She died after 10 hours of ignored warnings. Charles Johnson subsequently founded 4Kira4Moms lobbying for maternal health legislation.

During a protest against police killings of Black men in Dallas, TX, Micah Johnson, an Army veteran, ambushed police officers, killing five and wounding nine, along with two civilians. Johnson stated he was angry about police killings of Black men. He was killed by a police robot-delivered bomb after negotiations failed. The attack was used by critics to delegitimize Black Lives Matter protests, though BLM organizations condemned the killings.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and thousands of water protectors gathered in North Dakota in 2016 to block the Dakota Access Pipeline, citing threats to sacred lands and water. Black Lives Matter activists joined the encampment, articulating shared struggles against environmental racism and state violence. Police deployed water cannons in freezing temperatures, rubber bullets, and sound cannons against protesters. The Obama administration halted the project in December 2016; the Trump administration reversed this and ordered construction to proceed in January 2017. The pipeline began operating in 2017.

The quarterback kneels during the anthem to protest police violence.